


No Time To Die

by Tangled23



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, First Meetings, To Be Continued
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23161801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tangled23/pseuds/Tangled23
Summary: Felicity Smoak is walking home when she stumbles across the Starling City vigilante. There is just one problem. The man is unconscious and needs her help.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak, Roy Harper/Thea Queen
Comments: 102
Kudos: 284
Collections: Olicity Clue





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my submission for the Olicity Clue challenge. I had written a totally different thing, then bam! The muse struck. So I erased it and began again. Titled inspired by the Billie Eilish song. I hope you enjoy this alternate first meeting of our favorite couple!

Felicity Smoak was accustomed to walking home in the dead of night. Her small townhouse was on the outskirts of the Glades, the city’s most disreputable area. Usually she could drive her Mini to and from Queen Consolidated, but last month they had caught her speeding for the third time and taken her licence away. Now, she was forced to take the bus every day. At first it had been weird and scary for a woman who loved driving but after awhile she had gotten used to it.

Thankfully, the bus stop was not far and on the way, there was a very famous strip club which had bouncers built like tanks in front. She felt safe walking by the Huntress because she knew that if she needed help she could always run towards it. Helena Bertinelli, the owner of the club, was a bitch and crazier than a bag of cats but everyone said that she was a passionate defender of women’s rights. Helena reserved all her wrath for men. Specifically, the Italian mobsters who had killed her fiance a few years before.

Felicity turned left on the corner and reached inside her bag for the pepper spray. This street was not well-lit so she had to be extra careful. She walked slowly but with purpose and kept her head on a swivel. That one was Roy’s suggestion and when she had admitted that she had no clue what it meant, he had alternated between genuine surprise at her lack of sports knowledge and scolding for losing her driving licence. Since Roy was the most street savvy person she knew, she had chosen not to antagonize him and follow his advice.

Walking by the huge dumpster, Felicity heard a grunt and a groan. Probably some poor animal suffering. Roy had warned her about stopping in the Glades so she took a deep breath and decided to ignore it. The grunt was louder the next time. Her curiosity got the better of her and she approached it carefully.

A leg became slowly visible. A long leg dressed in very distinctive green leather trousers. She blinked but the strange sight didn’t go away.

Felicity tilted her head and examined him. Lying on the trash, out cold but still breathing judging by the rise and fall of his chest, was Starling City’s resident vigilante. Her mind blanked for a few seconds. Then she pulled her phone out before she could second-guess herself.

“What’s up, Blondie?”

Roy’s voice was calm even though she interrupted his date night with Thea. She didn’t want to ruin that but she had no one else to call. And certainly, no one else who she could trust with a secret like this.

“Hi Scarecrow. Are you with Thea?”

“Yes.”

“Can you get out for a few minutes? I need help carrying something to my house.”

“Blondie, if it’s another Robin Hood framed poster you should know that-”

“Oh no, it’s nothing like that. Please, come. And Roy? Don’t tell Thea where you’re going.”

“Are you in trouble, Blondie?”

“Sort of. I’ll explain everything as soon as you’re here.”

“Where exactly is here?”

“On 7th. Behind the Huntress. Hurry!”

Roy let out a filthy curse commenting on her tendency to get into trouble and hung up without saying goodbye.

Felicity didn’t have to wait long - thankfully Roy and Thea were hanging out at his place tonight - before he showed up. She had stood still as a statue, guarding him, armed with pepper spray and determination. 

When Roy saw who was on the ground behind her, his eyes widened like saucers reminding her of a cartoon.

“Are you crazy?” he asked in a furious whisper.

“Perhaps. Can you help me move him to my house? It’s not far.”

“I should call the police right now. This guy is insane, Blondie.”

“No, he isn’t.” She didn’t know why she felt so strongly about the subject.

“He has killed a lot of people. Lance is searching for him everywhere and you want to, what? Live a Robin Hood fantasy with him?”

Felicity narrowed her eyes. For the first time she wondered if trusting Roy had been a good idea.

“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That when I started hanging out with you, everyone told me that you were a thief and a junkie. I gave you the benefit of the doubt and now you and Thea are my friends. You’re the only family I’ve got in Starling. Which would have never happened if I had heeded all these warnings. Doesn’t he deserve the same consideration?”

“Fine. Save me the guilt trip. But if Lance knocks on my door tomorrow with a warrant, I’m not covering for you.”

“Deal,” she beamed at him.

There was one slight problem with the plan. Lifting and carrying a 6'1", 180 lbs guy was easier said than done. In the end they decided to carry him standing up as if he were drunk which wouldn’t bring much attention in this neighborhood.

“Wow, he’s really heavy. Do you think it’s all muscles?”

“Somehow, I don’t think vigilantes come with beer bellies,” Roy panted.

The distance they had to cover was minimal all things considered but it seemed like an eternity to her. Roy didn’t say much, just carried the burden silently which made her regret the fact that she had cancelled her own gym subscription last month. By the time they reached the townhouse, they were both sweaty and exhausted. Felicity had trouble putting one foot in front of the other and had to promise herself two pints of chocolate mint chip as motivation.

Roy had to support the vigilante by himself until she could find her keys, a fact he did not appreciate, judging by his surly expression. Felicity unlocked the door quickly and helped him carry the man inside. 

“Do you think your neighbors saw us, Blondie?”

She shook her head and threw her bag on the floor. “No way. It’s too late. The only one who cares about my comings and goings is Mrs Fernandez but she is asleep at this hour.”

She took off her heels and focused on the unconscious man who was now dripping blood on her teal couch.

“Is he shot?” she asked Roy.

Roy examined him closely. “Nope. There’s a long gash on his right thigh, however.”

“Like from a sword?” She was equally fascinated and horrified. Lowly IT experts did not lead exciting lives. Her boring night had turned into an adventure.

“Who knows? You can ask him when he comes to.”

Felicity agreed. She fervently hoped she would get the chance to have a discussion with the man, crazy as it might sound.

“Don’t worry. It’s not his time to die.” He got up and considered her. “We’ll need some kind of medkit if we hope to take care of this ourselves.”

“It’s in the upstairs bathroom.”

“I’ll bring it. And all the other necessary items. In the meantime, you should take off his clothes so that we can see the damage.”

Felicity was tempted to peek under the hood. 

“Leave the hood on,” Roy warned. “This is one secret you don’t want to learn.”

She considered it for a moment. Mysteries were the worst. They really bugged her and usually served no purpose but to annoy people. On the other hand, this man’s identity was dangerous. She might be a bit reckless but she wasn’t crazy. She had no intention of becoming prime target for all of this guy’s enemies. 

She hurried to his side and put a hand on his neck. His pulse was sluggish but it was definitely there. Relieved, she began the process of undressing him. She unzipped the jacket and lifted up his T-shirt to assess the possible damage. His chest was lean but muscular, covered in recent bruises and old scars. Some of his ribs could be cracked or broken but without an MRI machine there was simply no way of knowing. Surprisingly, he had several tattoos but his chest was otherwise smooth. No sign of hair anywhere. She was momentarily riveted by the sight of an honest to God eight pack but she pushed the shirt down and covered him again before she could do something crazy. Like lick him. Right there on each one of his delicious muscles which up until now she had never seen on a living human being.

Felicity shook her head and tried to concentrate. The blood seemed to be coming from his leg like Roy had said and it looked quite fresh. Carefully, she unzipped him and drew the leather trousers down his legs. She had to take his boots off first though. He remained eerily silent, a fact which both relieved and worried her. Underneath he wore black briefs and she couldn’t help but notice that he was beautiful even there. Thick and long by her estimation.

“His wound is several inches to the right.”

Felicity blushed to the roots of her dyed blonde hair. She chose not to respond to Roy’s mocking comment and focused on the task at hand.

“You were right. There is a long gash here. It’s still bleeding.”

“I’ll clean up the wound and sew his leg. I sterilized the equipment as much as I could but considering the circumstances, I think this guy would prefer a little bacterial infection than going to the doctor.”

“I’m guessing the words hospital and police aren’t his favorite.”

Roy smiled at that and did a thorough cleaning of the wound. By then Felicity was ready to gag. It only got worse when he grabbed the needle and thread.

“Step aside, Blondie. You can clean him using the cloth after I’m done.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just… I’m not a fan of pointy things.”

“You should have let him die then.”

She walked to the other side of the living room towards the kitchen.

“Why did you save him?” He sounded genuinely curious.

“Shouldn’t you be more careful? After all, you’re piercing his skin with a needle right now.”

Roy saw through her evasion tactic. It was obvious from the way he clenched his jaw to avoid asking more questions. She wanted to answer him but she couldn’t. The truth was that she didn’t even know herself.

Why had she saved him? Well, obviously she couldn’t leave a defenseless man lying on trash dying slowly on the street. It went against every instinct. But bringing him into her house? That was so not like her. A long time ago she had been impulsive and careless but she had paid for it dearly. This was the first rash decision she had made in years. Felicity took a deep breath and pushed down the memories when they tried to raise their ugly head. Thinking about Cooper wouldn’t help the angry man on her couch.

Anger was the only emotion that he was willing to show. People had described their interactions with him again and again. Those descriptions varied so much that it was as if they were talking about a different guy. But all witnesses had agreed on one thing. This man was furious. Thankfully, he only took it out on thieves, rapists and gang members. Was anger though his only reason? She stared at him trying to discern the man behind the mask. 

Roy got up, looking quite pleased with himself. “I did a good job. Your vigilante is gonna live,” he announced.

“He’s not _my_ vigilante, Scarecrow. Go wash up. I’ll clean your patient and take care of him.”

Roy climbed the stairs. “If he wakes up, call me. I need to speak to Thea.”

Felicity sighed at his overprotective tendencies. She took the wet cloth and approached the couch. The Hood, as they called him, had a commanding presence for a knocked out man.

She kneeled on the floor and started cleaning him softly. Considering this man’s life choices could give a girl a headache. Was he completely mad? Did he suffer from some type of mental illness? What kind of sane person roamed the streets at night saving strangers? Life was not a comic book. The Glades were scary and dangerous and despite her earlier bravado, she knew that she had been really lucky tonight.

Her hand moved almost without thought towards his face. She couldn’t see much except for a strong jaw covered in stubble, a pair of juicy lips and a cute mole that didn’t seem to belong on such a masculine face. The mystery was killing her. Surely, he wouldn’t mind if she took a peek? She had saved his life for Google’s sake.

Her hand reached the hood.

She touched the soft green fabric - so different from the rest of his suit - and was about to push it back when his hand grabbed her wrist in a viselike grip.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Felicity froze like a little girl with the hand in the cookie jar.

“How long have you been awake?”

“Ever since your friend tortured me with the needle.”

Felicity felt outraged on behalf of Roy. “You could try to be a little more grateful. He saved your life.”

“You saved my life,” he rasped, “he was bitching and moaning every step of the way.”

She chuckled despite herself.

“Where am I?”

“My place. I live near the strip club.”

His hand clenched on her wrist. “It’s not a good neighborhood for you.”

She dropped the cloth in a small basin. “That’s the best I can do.”

“Doesn’t QC pay you better than that?”

Felicity’s heart raced. “How do you know where I work?”

He pointed towards her chest. “Your IT badge. I can’t see the name but I know the company logo.”

“Oh. Yeah, I’m just an IT expert. Mostly, I clean computers infested with porn and fix executives’ emails accounts. I wanted the Applied Sciences position that opened up last summer but I lacked one major qualification so I didn’t get it.”

“What did you lack?”

“A dick and balls.”

At her dry retort, he started making a really weird sound. It was almost like wheezing. To her surprise, she realized that she had made the vigilante laugh.

“That doesn’t sound good,” she told him.

“It’s your fault. You’re not supposed to laugh with cracked ribs.”

Felicity winced. He was still holding her hand but she didn’t try to take it back.

“Were you really slashed with a sword?”

“And where would I find a sword in the middle of the Glades?”

“I don’t know Mr. Arrow. Up until last summer you couldn’t find a bow in Starling unless you belonged to an archery club.”

“Touche.”

His voice was familiar. Actually, she couldn’t recognize it because he made sure to speak in a low whisper. But there was something about the way he spoke the words themselves that sounded familiar to her. She tried to see under the hood but it was impossible. The only discernible thing was his lush mouth and that sinful mole.

“I was shot by a lady with a crossbow.”

His words brought her back from daydreaming about his mouth.

“You’re joking!”

“Do I look like a man who jokes?”

“You look like a man who likes to spend his nights dressing in leather and tying people up,” she retorted.

He laughed. Again. Felicity wanted to pump a fist in victory. She got the feeling that he wasn’t a man who laughed often.

“Where is your friend?”

“He went upstairs to clean up and call his girlfriend. He left her rather abruptly to come and save your ungrateful butt.”

His gloved hand was still holding hers, only now he was caressing her absentmindedly.

“My butt is very grateful. Still I would like to leave before he returns. Can you help me dress?”

“You’ve lost a lot of blood. Roy was raised in the Glades. He’s not going to rat you out. You can stay here until morning.”

He appeared thoughtful for a few moments. “Very well. But it would be best not to tell him I’m awake when he comes back.” 

He released her hand, promptly closed his eyes and appeared unconscious for all intents and purposes. Felicity was about to check his pulse when she realized the reason for subterfuge. Roy was coming down the stairs.

“Is he awake, Blondie?”

“Nope. You can go back to Thea. I don’t think he’s going to wake up anytime soon.”

“No way. I’m not leaving you alone with this lunatic.”

Her vigilante had tensed since the moment Roy approached but now he managed to radiate anger even as still as he was. Felicity put a hand on his uninjured leg.

“I don’t believe he’s crazy, Roy.”

“Then?”

“He’s a man of strong convictions. I imagine there must be something powerful behind his decision to go out at night and hunt criminals.”

Roy stared at her as if she had lost her mind.

“Don’t worry, Scarecrow. I do not approve of his methods. I only said I understand him a little.”

“You’re scaring me, Blondie. I think you better go and lie down. It’s after 10 and you have to work tomorrow.”

“There’s no way I’m leaving him. I’ll put on my pyjamas and sit in the armchair. I spend most of my nights in that thing anyway.”

Roy was about to argue when his cell phone rang. He picked up. Pacing back and forth, he whispered furiously for awhile. Apparently, the news was bad.

“Thea got herself into trouble. What is it with the women in my life tonight? Is it a full moon or something?”

“Is she ok?”

“Yeah. She had a car accident going home. I told her not to drive her brother’s Porsche but she never listens.”

Felicity looked frantically for her phone. “Is she hurt? I need to call her now!”

“Don’t call her. She’s just scared because when Moira hears about it, she’s gonna be grounded for a year. She’s not hurt but the car is busted.”

“Can you wait until I change? Then you can leave.”

Roy waited patiently while she washed herself in the sink and changed into clean pyjamas. This night was by far the weirdest in her life and it was not over yet. She hurried downstairs fearing that Roy would discover her vigilante was awake. The panic she felt at the thought of betraying his trust should have scared her. Instead it made her feel alive for the first time in years.

“Are you sure you’ll be ok, Blondie?”

She rolled her eyes playfully. “Go get your girl, Scarecrow. Keep me updated.”

He left with a final order, “Keep your phone with you at all times”.

She resisted rolling her eyes again. Getting closer to the actual superhero in her living room, she fake-whispered, “He left. You can quit the acting now.”

He opened his eyes and since the hood was now pushed back she finally got the chance to see his eyes. His gorgeous cerulean blue eyes. Life was so unfair sometimes.

“Is Thea Queen ok?”

His question was surprising. According to the media, the vigilante was not a fan of the city’s one percent.

“She had an accident but she’s not injured. Her brother’s car is totaled though.”

He looked like he was about to comment on that before he reconsidered.

“I thought you didn’t like Starling’s rich and famous?”

“Innocent teenage girls aren’t my enemy.” His voice was still low but his tone was hard.

“I’m sorry,” Felicity said. She felt horrible and was about to apologize further when he stopped her.

“It’s fine.”

She looked around, feeling lost. “Can I get you anything?”

“Since I’m about to spend the night, can I have a blanket?”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. You’re lying half-naked on my couch and I didn’t even think you might be cold.”

“I spent a lot of time in Russia. Trust me, I’m not cold.”

Startled by the insight into his personal history, she threw him one of her favorite purple blankets and curled up in her chair. 

“Really? I’ve never been abroad. What is Russia like?”

He spread the blanket over himself carefully. His movements were good but if Felicity had to guess, she would say that the ribs were giving him trouble. Not that he would ever admit it. Stupid male pride.

“It’s an unwelcoming place. Hard and violent. At least it was for me. I wasn’t there for the sights.”

“What were you there for?”

“Training.” He paused and then whispered reluctantly, “with the Bratva”.

Felicity’s mind raced. “The Russian mob?” she squeaked.

“Yeah.” But he didn’t volunteer any other information and she didn’t want to pressure him. 

“Do you believe in God?” she asked out of the blue.

“I suppose. Why?”

“Bethany Snow says that you’re playing god. Judge, jury and executioner.”

“Bethany Snow,” he spat the name, “doesn’t understand the fact that the world is a complicated place. There are people who deal only in extremes. It’s naive to think that anything other than extreme measures is going to stop them.”

“Your world must be really different than mine.”

“I live in that world so that people like you don’t have to,” he countered.

Felicity closed her eyes. The adrenaline rush was wearing off and she was starting to feel the effects of the eventful day. She wasn’t going to sleep of course. Just rest for a minute or two.

“I feel safer with you here.”

“In your house?” He sounded really surprised by the admission.

“In my city,” she mumbled, eyes shut.

“Sleep. I’ll watch over you, Felicity.”

She smiled at his promise and nodded off.

* * *

The dawn light was peeking through the window when she opened her eyes next. Her phone was ringing but it wasn’t the alarm clock. She didn’t wake gradually, hitting the snooze button like any other day. Instead she rolled off the armchair and her gaze flew to the couch. 

Nothing. 

The blanket was folded and placed away with care. There was no sign of her unexpected guest. Except for the blood that still covered the couch. He hadn’t been able to erase that at least. 

Felicity rubbed her tired eyes and tried to make sense of the events of last night. When she couldn’t, she headed towards the kitchen to make a pot of really strong black coffee. She fired a quick message to Roy promising that she was fine and vigilanteless when it suddenly hit her.

Roy had never uttered her real name and she certainly hadn’t introduced herself.

However, _**he** _had called her Felicity. 

The Hood knew who she was.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity saved the Hood with the help of a friend. If only it were that easy to save Oliver Queen as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I promised everyone a bonus chapter. However, there's good news and bad news. Or more good news, it depends on where you're standing. As I was writing, I realized that the chapter was getting too long so I decided to split it into two parts. That being said, I have written most of the second part already so it won't take me forever to update.
> 
> Anyway, I'll leave you to enjoy this next meeting of our favorite couple!

Felicity’s morning could have gone better if she weren’t stuck in a semi-formal brunch with the Queen family. Among the potted plants and decorations stood three people who couldn’t have been more awkward if they tried. On the surface, they were just waiting for Thea and Roy to start eating. The side looks and pursed lips however were telling a different story.

Thea’s insistence was the only reason why Felicity had woken up this early on this beautiful Sunday morning and driven to the orangery, a structure built inside the Queen property but not attached to the mansion. This place was always used for Sunday brunches when the temperamental Starling weather allowed it.

Felicity stared at the building in awe every time she visited. The roof was glazed and the sides were all covered in tall windows to allow the sunlight in. Moira Queen had surprisingly developed a green thumb somewhere along the way and had filled the space with orchids. The plants were really mercurial and demanded a great deal of attention but Felicity had heard her say that gardening was the only thing that got her through Oliver’s absence. The word of course conveyed none of the actual hell that the family had survived while losing both Oliver and Robert in a boat accident.

Felicity had been just a junior IT analyst when she met Thea two years ago. Needless to say she had been intimidated at first by Thea’s perfection, lack of incoherent babbles and overall coolness. It didn’t take long though for her to realize that there was something wrong with the 17-year-old girl. Thea’s pupils were always dilated, her visits to QC were not frequent but always ended in disaster and one rainy afternoon she had found her in the company’s bathroom trying to inhale some kind of white powder. Felicity had freaked out so much, she had called her friend Roy for advice. 

Considering the events of last week, she might owe Roy a gift. A really big gift. Felicity might have been the reason he met the love of his life but he had helped her out of a tight spot again. Twice now he had run towards danger when she needed him. Felicity sighed, making a mental note to buy Roy tickets for the Starling Jets VS Central City Rockets game. He would try to refuse but she was certain that deep down, he was dying to go.

“You’re here!” Thea squealed as she finally arrived.

Sometimes Felicity felt so much older than her 19-year-old friend.

“Your majesty called?”

Thea smacked her arm affectionately. “You know you love me, Liss.” Then she leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, “Ollie’s in a mood.”

Felicity resisted the urge to roll her eyes. When was Oliver NOT in a mood?

“Where’s Roy?”

“He couldn’t make it.”

Thea didn’t say it out loud but they both knew where Roy was. Iron Heights penitentiary. Visitors were only allowed every two weeks on Sundays.

“It’s just gonna be the four of us?”

Thea twined her arm around Felicity’s. “Mom threatened to invite the Bowens but Ollie vetoed her suggestion.”

They approached Moira and Oliver who appeared to be in the middle of a standoff. They reminded Felicity of that famous scene in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly where everyone was ready to shoot their gun but waited for the others to attack first. Huh, that was probably the reason why Thea had invited Felicity in the first place. As a buffer between her mother and older brother.

“I’m here,” she announced. A little too enthusiastically in Felicity’s opinion.

“Good. Raisa’s pancakes are better eaten warm,” Moira said, sounding cold and extremely polite.

Oliver’s expression was thunderous but at least his welcome was warmer and less threatening.

“Hey, Speedy.”

“Ugh, worst nickname ever!”

According to Thea, Oliver was not staying at the mansion these days. No one knew where and with whom he spent his nights but he at least had - begrudgingly - agreed to be accompanied by a bodyguard.

The light was shining on his handsome face and Felicity got distracted by his jawline. It reminded her of something but she couldn’t figure out what… The biggest injustice in the world was that she routinely made a fool of herself in front of Thea’s brother; the most handsome man she had ever met. In one infamous occasion he had declined a Mimosa and asked her simply to pass along the juice which had caused an epic babble about how she had noticed that he paid attention to what he put in his body. Thea and Roy, gleeful jerks that they were, still teased her about that one. 

“How are you, Oliver?” She spoke slowly and carefully. That way she would have fewer chances to embarrass herself.

“Fine. I did not expect to see you here.”

Could he be any less welcoming?

“Shut up, Ollie,” Thea interjected. “Since I can’t go anywhere these days, I’m allowed to invite my friends over.”

“You wouldn’t be under house arrest if you hadn’t wrecked my Porsche.”

Thea stuck her tongue out at her brother and he shook his head at her antics. Their bickering made Felicity smile. Oliver always seemed uptight and tense as if he expected someone to jump from behind the furniture and attack him. Thea’s foolish behavior was the only thing that could make him laugh.

“Children, please. Let us enjoy this beautiful morning without further discussion about this family’s propensity for accidents.”

They sat at the beautifully set table and Raisa served them a spread worthy of any high end restaurant. Felicity inhaled her cup of coffee - hey, it was only her first - and smothered her pancakes in Nutella. If she had to suffer through brunch with Moira and Oliver, then she could at least enjoy it.

She looked up and found him staring at her plate with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” She tried to raise an eyebrow of her own and failed.

“Nothing.”

He got a serving of scrambled eggs and salmon on his plate. A more healthy choice but one that could make Felicity gag. Especially this early in the morning. It was so ironic that Starling City’s prodigal son, the one who used to end up intoxicated in various events, was now such a health freak.

“I can feel you judging, Queen.”

“I can see your blood sugar rising, Smoak.”

Thea started coughing which probably meant that she was laughing her butt off. On the inside, of course.

“I hope that you don’t mind but I asked Walter to join us.”

Oh, boy. It was no secret that QC’s CFO, Walter Steele was enamored of Moira Queen, CEO. The relationship (and Felicity wasn’t sure she could actually call it that) had come as an unwelcome surprise to Oliver when he had returned from the dead. According to Thea, her brother had asked Walter point-blank if he intended to sleep with his mother. Walter had reacted with dignity to the accusation but his next visits were infrequent and always when Oliver was out of the house. Thea was kinda mad about it because she loved Walter and viewed him as a surrogate father.

“Is this visit necessary?” Oliver asked. He put down his fork and seemed to be concentrating on a point beyond Felicity’s left shoulder. During their interactions he rarely ate more than a bird as her bubbe used to say. 

“Yes, it is,” Moira replied, decisively. “There is your mandatory court appearance to discuss. Or have you forgotten?”

“What does it have to do with Walter?”

“It affects QC. Darling, your name is on the building. One day you might decide to follow in your father’s footsteps-”

The chair fell down with a bang as Oliver got up suddenly.

“I didn’t study business management in any of the four colleges I dropped out of,” he remarked.

“Did I tell you that Felicity met the Hood?”

Thea’s question fell like a grenade. Felicity blushed scarlet when both Oliver and Moira focused on her. 

“Meet is an overstatement. I didn’t actually meet him. I just saw him,” Felicity said while trying to kick Thea under the table.

“Don’t be modest, Liss. You saved his life. My best friend is a badass!”

“Thea!”

“Sorry, Mom. I would have said she’s a badbutt but it sounds ridiculous.”

Oliver’s lips curved. Of course it didn’t exactly reach his eyes but for him it was like a full blown chuckle. He sat back down and focused on Felicity.

“So, Miss Smoak how did you meet the vigilante?”

Felicity fidgeted under the scrutiny of both Moira and Oliver. Describing her encounter with the vigilante seemed disloyal. It sounded silly because he hadn’t actually prohibited her from discussing their meeting but she was protective of him. And she was sure that Oliver would end up mocking the Hood. Felicity couldn’t imagine two people as different as Oliver Queen and the man who dressed up in green leather and fought bad guys in the Glades. One had lived a pampered existence, with the exception of a few years in a jungle of course, and the other risked his life everyday to save the lives of people he didn’t know. In fact she was willing to bet that underneath his cashmere sweater Oliver Queen had a body built at the gym, nice to look at for sure, but nothing like the Hood’s lean, mean, fighting machine.

“Oh no, I’ve lapsed into song lyrics.”

“Excuse me?” Moira was looking at Felicity as if she had grown a second head.

Felicity turned to Thea who was fighting another smile, “I didn’t say that outloud, did I?”

“Yeah, Liss.” Felicity resisted the urge to bang her head on the table while Thea, the traitor, kept pushing, “You didn’t answer Mom though. Tell them how you met the vigilante.”

Felicity poured milk into her second cup of coffee.

“It’s not a big deal. I found him hurt on the street and kept him safe until he was well enough to leave.”

“But you took him into your house, Liss. You were really brave-”

“And incredibly stupid. That man is a psychopath.”

“He isn’t, Ollie! He saves people!”

Moira put down her fork, gently. “Nevertheless, Miss Smoak took a great risk welcoming a man like that into her home.”

Felicity’s cheeks were burning. She just knew that the older members of the Queen family would disapprove of her actions. After all, the Hood hated one-percenters with good reason.

“What would you have done in my shoes, Mrs Queen? I couldn’t very well leave him alone to die in the Glades.”

“If I had found the Hood, I would have called the police,” Moira replied with a superior smirk that grated on Felicity’s nerves.

Thea must have sensed that Felicity was about to go off on a tangent so she interrupted them quickly.

“What do you think, Ollie?”

“I think that this guy needs a better nickname than the ‘Hood’.”

They all laughed at his irreverent comment.

“How about the ‘Bow’?” Thea suggested with a twinkle in her eyes.

“The ‘Quiver’?” Oliver countered.

“The ‘Arrow’,” Felicity said. Which actually was a decent code name. Much better than the ‘Hood’ and a lot more defining than the ‘Green Guy’ which is what detective Lance usually called him during press conferences. “Nicknames aside, I still think that he can potentially be great for our city. He might be obsessed with stealing from the rich to give to the poor but in my eyes and in the eyes of everyone that lives in the Glades, that man is a hero.”

Felicity’s passionate speech was met with silence.

* * *

  
The Queens were celebrating Oliver’s official return from the dead with a lavish party. There was just one issue. The man of the hour was not home yet.

Oliver leaped the gap between the two buildings and landed on the roof with ease. 

Tonight he was not Oliver Queen. He was the Hood.

He heard someone gasping and the subsequent click of a photo being taken but he didn’t stop long enough to check. It was dangerous to engage in Hood activities before night fell but he didn't have much time. After all, he had a party to attend.

The tip had come as Oliver was leaving the courthouse. After being officially recognized as Oliver Queen, returned to the living, he had been antsy. He wanted to be active, to be doing something useful for those who needed him. He didn’t want to be the son of a dead man and heir to Queen Consolidated. He wanted to direct this anger, this feeling of being trapped somewhere. He wanted to fight. So when his phone had beeped with the information that someone was abducting teenagers in the Glades he had jumped at the chance.

Oliver ran along the roof and shot an arrow with a grappling hook to cover the distance between this building and the next. The buildings in the Glades were not constructed as thoughtfully as the rest of the city. Sometimes they were literally one on top of the other, other times they were so far apart that they required special arrows.

Arrow was what she had called him. 

It was weird but during the last three weeks no matter if he was dressed in Armani suits or green leather, he couldn’t help but think of her. 

Felicity Smoak. The bane of his existence. The woman who had protected him that night after his fight with Helena and then defended his alter ego passionately to him and his mother.

She had called him a hero. If only she knew how wrong she was… Oliver Queen was not a hero. At best he was this city’s revenge against the people who had wronged it. At worst he was a man made for darkness.

But Felicity knew nothing about it. This was his mission. His burden to carry. And somehow, she was dangerous to him. He could sense it with the part of his primordial brain that had saved his life countless times on the island.

Vowing to stay away from her, he climbed on a balcony and saw that he was over Tempest, a well-known dive bar where low-life criminals hung out. His leg was bothering him again but he ignored it. The first thing he had learned on Lian Yu was how to shut down pain. It was a military trick and Slade had warned him it could be dangerous if you were fatally injured and ignored your body’s signals but since this wound was already healing, Oliver would be fine for a few hours.

In the alley behind Tempest, a lone figure was waiting.

“What took you so long?”

Sin was far too young to be living alone in the Glades and definitely too young to be going out for a drink at Tempest but she was also his best informant. He had promised Sara he would keep an eye on her when he got to Starling and he would make good on that promise.

“You said they’re taking teens off the streets.”

“Yeah.”

When she didn’t volunteer anything else, Oliver crouched low and jumped from the fire escape. He landed with a soft thud which made her smile.

“You said you were hurt.”

“I was. Now I’m better.”

He wasn’t used to people asking about his wounds. Oliver Queen might have a few friends but the Hood had none. And that was how he liked it.

“My friend Max was taken last night. They found him in an alley with blood leaking from his eyes, nose and ears. They say he OD'd but they’re wrong. Max was a pickpocket but he wasn’t a junkie. He didn’t even smoke weed with the rest of us.”

Oliver shook his head at the thought of Sin smoking at all but that was a fight for another day. If someone was indeed taking teens off the streets, he had to take them out. And fast.

“I’ll look into it,” he promised.

“Good,” Sin nodded with satisfaction. 

The faith she had in him reminded him of Felicity Smoak again.

“Did you find anything more about the book?”

The question was not unexpected. Ever since she had tried to pick his pockets and found the old notebook, she had been fascinated by it. Oliver could understand her obsession well. Back on the island he had examined it compulsively every day, trying to figure out why his father would give him an empty notebook and order him to keep it safe. There was nothing written on it so the reason for secrecy was lost on him.

“There’s something else,” Sin said.

He tilted his head in question. Sin was familiar with his lack of verbal communication so she didn’t hesitate.

“There was a man poking his nose into a warehouse around here last week.”

“What kind of man?”

“One of the bigwigs you always see on TV. Like the Queens or the Merlyns.”

Now that was interesting.

“Describe him,” he ordered.

“Ted saw him. Black, polite, asked Ted for directions.”

That didn’t give him much. 

“Anything else?” he asked roughly. He was beginning to feel a little impatient.

“Yeah. Ted said the dude was British. Spoke with a real funny accent.”

The blaring sound of police sirens interrupted their conversation.

“You better pick up your feet. You might be hang-up on that book but your friend detective Lance is hang-up on you.”

Oliver appreciated the warning but it was unnecessary. He was well aware of Lance’s current obsession with the Hood.

He gritted his teeth and climbed back up the fire escape as fast as he could. Sin gave him a mock salute and disappeared quickly.

The sirens sounded closer as he resumed his running and jumping from one rooftop to another. 

Escape via the roofs seemed ideal until he came up to a gap even he couldn’t cross by arrow. Growling under his breath, Oliver was forced to jump down and cross the empty street.

“I see him,” a voice yelled.

Running away from detective Lance wasn’t Oliver’s idea of fun. Especially since he had to be back at the mansion for his ‘welcome back’ party.

He flattened himself against the nearest wall and waited for the threat to pass. Lance and his men were like a dog with a bone. According to his mother, the Mayor wasn’t happy with the fact that a vigilante was loose on the streets targeting this city’s upstanding citizens. So the Mayor kept pushing Lance for results and Lance kept hunting Oliver with maniacal dedication.

“We’ll get the bastard tonight,” Lance vowed but his voice came from far away and Oliver felt safe enough to attempt another escape.

However, the detective had become wiser during the weeks they played their cat and mouse game. This time he had actually asked his officers to double back so when Oliver emerged from the alley, he fell into a trap.

Oliver didn't know who was more surprised. Him or the poor officers.

The man in front of him recovered first and pointed his gun at him.

“Don’t move!”

Not moving was not an option. The bow would be no use in such close quarters. Hand to hand combat was the only choice.

Oliver stretched his arms overhead and jumped, grasping one of the nearest fire escape rails. The move saved him from getting shot because the officer had fired his gun reflexively.

Oliver used the momentum he had gained and kicked with his feet the man closer to him. When the officer fell unconscious to the ground due to the force of the hit, he swung and dropped, rolling away as he hit the asphalt. He didn’t want to hurt them but they left him no other choice. Detective Lance would have heard by now the shot so he was about to have more company.

The blow from behind brought him to his knees. One of these fuckers had managed to get close to him when he wasn’t paying attention. Oliver twisted and grabbing the officer’s legs, he managed to topple him to the ground. His head hit the pavement with a sickening thud but there was no time to regret the action. 

The third officer was approaching and he didn’t seem in a mood to retreat. Oliver charged him and it was clear from the surprise on his face that he wasn’t expecting that. Oliver slammed his fist into the man’s face repeatedly but the officer was clever enough to try to knee him in the balls. He avoided the sneak attack and felt a savage satisfaction when the next punch broke his attacker's nose.

Only the sound of sirens coming closer than ever stopped Oliver. He was running before he had the time to process his next thought. A dumpster at the corner of the street gave him enough leverage to jump and then he was climbing again, his fingers straining for holds before he managed to reach the roof.

He stayed hidden only for a few moments just to make sure that he hadn’t killed any of these idiots and then he ran like hell. He had to have an important talk with his mother’s suitor. Luckily, he knew exactly where to find Walter Steele. Same place he was going to.

There was no ‘Oliver Queen is back from the dead’ party without Oliver Queen himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait to read your thoughts/comments. Did you enjoy seeing the Hood in action? What about Thea and the Queen family?
> 
> Stay safe people and keep reading!
> 
> PS. Title inspired by the Billie Eilish song.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity saved the Hood with the help of a friend. If only it were that easy to save Oliver Queen as well. (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you didn't expect an update so soon, did you? Important things happen in this chapter... Enjoy!

A man dressed like the world’s most expensive butler showed Felicity in the Queen mansion. Tonight she would have to face her worst enemy. The Starling City elite. 

Scores of uptight people who looked down their surgically-fixed noses at people like her. Men who flirted with IT girls, demanded their help to remove spam messages and porn but who under no circumstances would be willing to offer a decent job to an actual MIT graduate just because she had boobs.

Was she still bitter about losing the Applied Sciences position at QC? You bet she was.

Felicity wouldn’t even consider attending this party if it weren’t for Thea and Roy. They were her family and she would do anything for these two loveable dummies. Even endure an evening of pointless conversations celebrating the return of Oliver Queen.

She glanced around the room. The man himself wasn’t there to greet visitors. Instead Moira, Walter, Thea and a disgruntled Roy were waiting at the entrance to the living room.

“Miss Smoak, it’s good to see you.”

Walter Steele’s polite welcome made her feel better. The CFO was a fan of her work and he sang her praises at QC constantly. Too bad that he wasn’t in charge of promoting people.

“Mr Steele, Mrs Queen.”

They exchanged pleasantries for a few moments before Thea hugged her and whispered in her ear, “You look like a million dollar bucks.”

“I’ll take your word for it, Miss Queen, since I’ve never seen a million dollars myself.”

Roy chuckled and fist-bumped her.

“Mr Harper, you’re looking quite dashing.” She couldn’t help but tease her friend who was bound to be as uncomfortable as Felicity.

“Thea likes the monkey suit, Blondie.”

“There’s no need to be nervous, Liss. The dress is a Dior. You’ll fit right in.”

Felicity didn’t need Thea to tell her about the dress. She had nearly fainted when she had opened the package that her best friend had sent to the townhouse on Monday. Thea had chosen an haute couture dress that she knew Felicity wouldn’t decline. It was made of pink silk and had a floor-sweeping skirt. She had to buy a ridiculously expensive pair of Christian Louboutin rose-gold sandals to be able to wear it, a purchase that had severely diminished her bank account but which she refused to regret. All in all, the outfit cost more than the first apartment she had ever rented.

“Where is your brother anyway?” she asked Thea, deciding to steer the conversation away from fashion before Roy expired from boredom.

“Here.”

His voice came from right behind her. When he entered her line of vision, she audibly gasped. Oliver Queen in everyday clothes was handsome. Oliver Queen in a tuxedo with freaking suspenders and a bowtie was devastating.

“Oliver,” Moira said, “I hope you haven’t left your security behind.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. Rob is just outside.”

Felicity watched as he hugged his mother and sister while exchanging a few strained words with Roy and Walter. He kissed the women’s cheeks but as Felicity noticed, he made sure not to hug them for more than a second or two. She wasn’t sure if this fake hugging ritual was common among the rich and famous or if Oliver Queen was actually uncomfortable with human contact. She filed the thought away. Now was not the time for these types of questions.

He leaned down to whisper in her ear, “You look beautiful, Felicity.”

The way he said her name, the drawn-out syllables gave her goosebumps. It reminded her of someone else. Where had she heard it before?

“Come on, Oliver,” Moira said. “I want to introduce you to some people.”

His mother took him and Walter away, leaving Felicity feeling oddly bereft.

“How about a drink?” Thea suggested, leading them inside where all the furniture had been removed so that the living room could be transformed into an actual ballroom.

“You’re not old enough to drink.”

Thea rolled her eyes. “Our country is weird. I’m old enough to own a bar but I’m not old enough to have a glance of wine.”

Felicity smiled before a sudden thought occurred to her. “Do you actually own a bar, Speedy?”

“No. But I could if I wanted to. And I hate the fact that everyone’s using Ollie’s stupid nickname. It makes me feel 12 years old.”

“What can I say? It’s catching on,” Felicity said.

Thea let out a sigh making both Felicity and Roy laugh. They both knew that although Thea grumbled and whined, she secretly loved the fact that her brother had a special nickname just for her.

“I’ll sneak you a glass of champagne when no one’s watching.”

“I knew you were my best friend for a reason, Liss.”

The three of them approached the bar and asked for their drinks. Thea loved gossiping so she provided information on various men and their dates. The juicy details - as she called them - were so entertaining that she had both Felicity and Roy in stitches. 

“Okay, no more champagne for you, young lady.”

Felicity loved teasing Thea about her age even though she was not that much older herself. 

“Fine. Cut me off but you won’t hear the story of how the current mayor was caught in flagrante delicto with the previous mayor’s wife. She only found out because he had a heart attack with his pants down and they had to rush him to the hospital!”

Felicity snorted, laughing so hard that champagne actually came out of her nose. Roy put his glass down and escorted Thea to the dance floor to save Felicity from ruining her dress. Knowing how much he hated dancing, Felicity blew him a kiss in thanks.

“Are you flirting with my sister’s boyfriend?”

The question made her jump. He was suddenly looming behind her, his clean scent of sandalwood and cedar overwhelming her senses.

“Oliver! You scared the crap out of me!”

Thea made a motion with her hand clearly ordering him to dance with her best friend. Felicity pretended not to notice and placed her empty glass on the bar.

Brother and sister had a silent conversation with their eyes before he turned to her. “Felicity. Would you like to dance?”

The way he phrased the request was polite but sort of disinterested. He probably expected her to refuse.

“Why not?” she said with a shrug and clasped his hand.

“Great,” he replied unconvincingly scowling at Thea and led her to the dance floor.

They faced each other without moving for a beat. Then he took her hand gently and placed his other arm on her back. Felicity shivered.

Oliver looked down at her with his usual aloofness. He was so tall that she would have to stare at his bowtie if she didn’t want to get a crick in the neck. The weird thing was that they somehow fit. Like two pieces of a puzzle that looked totally mismatched at first glance but were perfectly compatible when you placed one next to the other. She shook her head to dispel the thought. She was already attracted to this man - she had proved it by making a fool of herself several times - no need to spin fantasies about him. 

It was a slow dance which made things even worse. Oliver was of course trained - as if Moira Queen would ever allow her kids to fail at something - so Felicity had no problem trusting him with the steps. He led her gracefully around the dance floor, if not a little stiffly.

“Why didn’t you bring a guest?” he finally asked.

Felicity’s eyebrows rose incredulously. Did he think that her dating life was hopeless because Thea ordered him to dance with her? 

Which of course it was but he had no reason to think that!

“Why didn’t you?” she countered.

“I was stranded on an island in the North China sea for five years. No opportunities to meet girls.”

“No social media there, huh? No Facebook?”

“Not even a MySpace account.”

“It must have been a very dark time, Queen.”

“You have no idea, Smoak.”

She smiled. He might be contrary and a genuine pain in the butt but she loved their witty banter.

They remained silent for a while after that. It gave Felicity time to study his scruffy jaw, his beautiful soft lips that looked like little pillow mountains with a cute mole on the right side. The mole reminded her of another time when she had-

“I see my sister’s relationship with the young delinquent is going strong.”

He nodded towards Roy who was swaying in place with a giggly Thea.

“What do you have against Roy? Is it the fact that he wasn’t born with a platinum spoon in his mouth?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“I will not apologize for believing that he isn’t good enough for my sister.”

Felicity’s mouth tightened. She had met Roy while she was returning home from work one evening. He had tried to steal her purse, not that she would ever share that fact with Oliver. To his surprise, she had managed to track him down easily thanks to the fact that her phone was still in the purse. Roy couldn’t have known it but, short of locking the thing in a Faraday cage, there was no way to stop someone like her from locating him. Their first meeting might have been rocky at best but it didn’t take long for Felicity to realize that the guy she had dubbed ‘Scarecrow’ was a good person who had been through a lot. After her refusal to rat him out to the cops, Roy had slowly begun to trust her and even helped her move to the townhouse. Their friendship had blossomed and then solidified when Roy had fallen in love with Thea. It was natural that she was protective of him and didn’t appreciate Oliver’s callous remarks.

“I don’t have any brothers but I’m guessing being overprotective comes with the territory. However, you have absolutely no idea what Thea was like before Roy so you should be grateful instead of judgy.”

“Grateful?” he scoffed. “I’m her brother and I want what’s best for her.”

Why was he being so argumentative tonight? If Felicity didn’t know any better, she would think that he was deliberately trying to rile her up.

“Roy’s what’s best for her. She cleaned up her act because of him. Your mother was too absorbed in her grief to pay attention to her daughter and everyone else treated her like the poor teenage girl who lost her brother and father. Roy was the only person who saw Thea for Thea. Not the Queen heiress. Not the lonely teenager who took drugs to forget the pain. Just Thea.”

“Please, do not presume to know what my mother went through.”

“You don’t know either. You were dead, remember?”

“Touché.”

Felicity cocked her head. “What’s your deal with Roy and Walter anyway? You have been like a bear with a sore paw around them since your resurrection and let me tell you, it’s getting a little annoying.”

“And it bothers you because you’re such an important part of the family,” he drawled.

The remark cut her deeper than barbed wire. She took a breath trying to fight the pain, the reminder that she wasn’t an actual member of this family, of any family and gave him a fake smile.

He stared at her for a moment before he stopped moving. “It seems that dancing was a mistake.”

And before Felicity had the chance to agree, he turned and left her flat in the middle of the dance floor. With people staring openmouthed and vipers like Janice Bowen gossiping about how the mighty Oliver Queen threw her away like a discarded tissue or something.

_Who did he think he was?_

A red haze clouded her vision but she didn’t get the chance to chase him and demand an apology because Thea and Roy sweeped in and saved her from further embarrassment.

Thea apologized on behalf of her brother and then proceeded to entertain her with several anecdotes about their guests. Felicity wasn’t even listening but she managed to nod and laugh when required. She refused to let people think that the situation bothered her. Because it didn’t. Not at all. She just had to hack into his personal phone, tablet and computer and fill them with sounds of porcupine flatulence.

And then it would be alright.

_Riiiiight._

“I have to go the bathroom,” she announced suddenly, interrupting Thea mid-sentence. “Here, hold my drink.”

And with that excuse she strode off to find the cocky, spoiled castaway and teach him a lesson.

Two older women were blocking her exit, their heads bent together as they pretended to discuss something important.

“I heard he wants to open a club.”

“You’re kidding?”

“No. My friend, Louise said that Oliver Queen was seen in the Glades this afternoon.”

The one on the right laughed with malice. “He thinks that people are going to queue for a club in the Glades? God, Max Fuller is going to have a blast when he hears that.”

“The owner of Poison? Diane’s son? What does he have to do with Queen?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard about little Ollie sleeping with Max’s fiancée one day before the wedding?”

Her friend smacked her arm. “Of course I haven’t heard. Deets, now!”

Felicity felt the need to smack both of them instead. Little Ollie? Seriously? People were mean and unkind. Everyone knew that Oliver used to be a douche but they kept treating him as if he was the same person he had been when the Gambit went down. Felicity wasn’t a big fan of his (in fact at the moment she would be willing to swear in a court of law that she was his biggest enemy like Batman and the Joker or Thanos and Tony Stark) but even she could see that the man who returned wasn’t the same man who had peed on a cop and slept with another man’s future wife.

“Excuse me,” she snapped and elbowed her way through.

Felicity stared down the hallway thoughtfully. Oliver had disappeared somewhere over there but since this house was a maze, there was no way to predict where he would have gone next. Her hunch though told her that he wouldn’t stay cooped up inside for long. He would probably head towards the garden which suited her plans perfectly since she intended to knock him over the head with a flower pot.

A green shadow turned around the corner.

Surely not. **_He_ **wouldn’t dare.

Felicity blinked to clear her vision and told herself she was mistaken. Was it possible that the Hood was running around in the Queen ancestral home? Usually he didn’t venture further than the Glades and the mansion was 20 miles away from the city… Unless the Hood was the alter ego of someone attending the party.

A crazy idea popped into her head. Was is possible? Picking up the long skirt of her dress so as not to trip, Felicity followed him as quietly as possible determined to find out the truth once and for all.

Her heart was beating in a quick rhythm and anticipation made her jittery. If she were being honest, she couldn’t wait to see him again. Well, this version of him. Felicity tiptoed until she reached the end of the corridor where a narrow staircase led upstairs. This hallway was used mainly by Raisa and the caterers whenever the Queens decided to throw a party.

“Looking for someone, Miss Smoak?”

She whirled and put a hand on her breast. He had frightened the hell out of her but then that was nothing new, was it? The man leaning against the wall, looking graceful and indolent at the same time, had the habit of appearing by her side when she least expected him.

“Are you crazy?” she asked, feeling both furious and betrayed.

She couldn’t see under the Hood but she was certain that he must have raised an eyebrow by now.

“You didn’t answer me,” he replied, his voice husky and low like she remembered from their previous encounter. “Who are you looking for?”

Felicity took a cautious step forward and raised her chin. “I am looking for Oliver Queen,” she said to gauge his reaction. “Have you seen him?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Nevermind,” she replied. “You’ll do just fine.”

“Are all men interchangeable to you, Felicity?”

The ass had the audacity to sound amused. Felicity opened her mouth to deliver a scathing retort which would put him in his place but two voices arguing nearby made her pause. He cocked his head like predators did when they wanted to judge if a threat was imminent or not and then she was in his arms, held tight against his body, hiding in the darkness behind the staircase like a common thief.

“What future do we have Moira if you refuse to trust me? How can I share my life with you without knowing the truth?”

Felicity gasped because she would recognize that British accent everywhere. The Hood clamped a hand over her mouth and shook his head. Right, she shouldn’t make a sound or else he would be caught.

She strained to hear Moira’s reply but the vigilante had no such problems. His hearing must be ten times more acute than hers because his reactions proved that he was able to follow the conversation easily.

Was that why he was there dressed in green leathers? To spy on Moira and Walter? Couldn’t he do that in a tuxedo easier if that was the case?

That reminded her of his previous misdeeds. Before the vigilante’s appearance, Felicity Smoak had been on the warpath. And if the man beneath the hood was who she thought, he deserved every bit of her wrath. So she did something that would definitely mortify her the next day but was guaranteed to gain a reaction from this imperturbable wall of a man.

Standing on her tiptoes, she placed one hand on his shoulder for balance and the other on his cheek. 

Cerulean blue eyes widened at her audacity.

Thankfully, he didn’t stop her.

Emboldened by his acquiescence, Felicity traced his lips with her fingers and mapped a course along his well-defined jawline. The Hood sighed and used a hand to push her closer to his body. Every part of her was now touched by him. Felicity wanted to pump a fist in victory but she restrained herself. There would be time for that afterwards. Conquer first, celebrate later.

The voices sounded further away but he made no move to step back.

Felicity leaned forward slowly and whispered a kiss against his lips. When he drew a quick breath, she took advantage and opened her mouth wider. And bit his lip. Hard.

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

The kiss was rough at first, lacking the finesse she would have expected of him. Without asking for permission, he claimed her with bold licks of his tongue, pushing her mouth wide open and tilting her head so that he could kiss her deeper, harder. Instead of cowering, she reveled in his aggression. She accepted his urgency and responded with an urgency of her own. She sucked his tongue and bit his bottom lip again, softer this time. He didn’t retreat and he didn't shy away from her. Felicity’s idea of conquering him seemed laughable all of a sudden. This man could not be tamed. He might possess a polished veneer, enough to fool the world but inside he was as feral as a jungle cat. It was wishful thinking to believe that he could belong to her.

No. He wouldn’t belong to anyone. He would only give parts of himself, the parts he deemed acceptable. And then one night he would vanish into the Glades and die in an attempt to defeat some formidable foe.

* * *

It took awhile for him to realize that she was crying. In his defence kissing Felicity Smoak was an exhilarating experience, similar perhaps to the moment the boat had finally saved him from the island and one he wouldn’t probably get the chance to repeat anytime soon. Losing himself in that kiss had made him feel alive. Each one of his nerve endings screamed for pleasure but, using his hard-earned control, he reined it in.

With effort he framed her face in his gloved hands and looked at her.

Tears were still running down her cheeks and her lipstick was long gone but she appeared to be unharmed. She refused to open her eyes however. He gave her another kiss, a more chaste one and took a step back. Everything was simpler and simultaneously a lot more complicated than ever before.

“Fe-li-ci-ty,” he whispered.

She opened her eyes and regarded him guardedly. It seemed that while he had been kissing her, forgetting everything about his mission and tonight’s goal to interrogate Walter, she had managed to build up her defences.

The realization made him unreasonably angry.

A sudden crash stopped him from asking if she had kissed him as a lark. Perhaps it had been her idea of fun to be able to say ‘I have kissed the Starling City vigilante’. He supposed he could have stopped her if he had wanted to. He should have stopped her. After all, she was half his size. But the simple explanation was that he hadn’t wanted to. 

Footsteps sounded closer than before.

“Police!” a voice yelled above others. “ We know the Hood is here.”

His mother’s dignified voice provided a calm response but they were too far away to make out the words.

“You have to go,” Felicity urged and pushed him. “I didn’t save your life so that Lance can catch you and have his way with you!” She smacked her forehead, exasperated. "I swear my brain thinks of the worst way to say things. Go!"

When he didn’t obey fast enough for her liking, she pushed him harder.

“Go, Oliver! You have to go!”

He hadn’t given her a name, he had done nothing to reveal his identity to her.

Still, Felicity Smoak knew who he was. He had thought she had wanted to kiss the Hood when she already knew that she was kissing Oliver Queen as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you ask, still no plans to turn this into a full-fledged fic.
> 
> Oh, who am I kidding? I left so many loose ends here so that I can deliberately write another chapter for you guys at some point. ;-)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity is struggling with the memory of a kiss when an age-old question arises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I couldn't leave it at that so here's another chapter to this story. Fair warning, though. This is again divided into two parts because I simply do not have the time to write and edit such a long chapter. The second part will be posted next month. As always, thank you to Olicity Tropes for providing the inspiration for this fic. <3
> 
> Enjoy!

“Do you see them?” Sin whispered close to his ear.

Oliver didn’t pay much attention to her question but he noticed her tone. Sin was afraid and trying to hide it.

He was lying down on a filthy roof stalking the man rumored to have created the new drug that plagued the Glades. Sin had provided the information and insisted on accompanying him. Ever since her friend Max had died, she had been determined to bring down the man responsible for the whole operation.

Count Vertigo was what they called him. A ridiculous name if Oliver had ever heard one.

“Is there a way in?” Sin asked.

“There’s always a way,” he replied, thinking once more of the island and his mentor’s teachings.

There was only one problem. The ‘way’ was a narrow entrance on the right side. There was no cover and if the police entered, the armed men the Count had inside could take them out easily, one by one. Like the Battle of Thermopylae. Of course, since Oliver planned to crash this place alone the point was moot.

Sin had tried to persuade him to call someone for help but he had refused with a grunt and a shake of his head. Another thing he had learned on the island; fighting alone meant no one could fail you. Relying on yourself, being the weapon was the best option.

Even if you were facing a crazy drug lord and his minions.

“I counted five guards while I was waiting for you,” Sin said.

“Six,” he corrected. “There’s one on the roof.”

Sin stared at him with admiration. The night was pitch black and the guard was barely visible. “What are you gonna do, Boss?”

“Don’t call me that. And don’t interfere. Just stay out of my way.” His gruff order sounded harsh but the young girl must have realized that he was worried about her.

“Head on a swivel,” Sin promised.

Oliver gave her a short nod and started running in a low crouch across the roof. He had no intention of entering the warehouse through the front door. Ancient Greeks were masters of military tactics but they knew nothing about modern architecture. Reaching the end of the roof, he leaped across the gap and landed on the other building silently. 

He approached the guard with stealth and precision. Snapping his neck was not difficult; making sure that the other man didn’t make any noise was the challenge. When he was certain that the guy was dead, he laid him down carefully and located the hidden skylight.

Oliver knew that the moment he broke the glass he would bring a lot of unwanted attention to himself. And possibly Sin. That would not do.

Thank God for ARGUS and their little tricks. Taking things from them was fun and his way of saying a big ‘Fuck you’ to Amanda Waller who had stolen a year of his life and put him back on goddamn purgatory. He pulled the round, unassuming device from his inside pocket and placed it on the glass. A strong laser beam cut through a circle just wide enough for a grown man to enter. Once it was finished, the glass didn’t fall down and make a ruckus but remained stuck on the device. You just had to hold it carefully and avoid dropping it yourself.

Removing the glass and securing the device, he was now ready to enter. He paused only for a moment to make sure that no one was standing beneath him and then jumped into the hole.

He landed softly and pulled his bow in one move. Someone came rushing at him in the dark but Oliver was ready. He used his shoulder to deflect and then his right fist to punch the man. His opponent fell but didn’t stay down. 

Oliver nocked an arrow and growled, “Where’s the Count?”

“I’m more afraid of him, than I am of you!”

“Wrong answer.”

Without further discussion, he shot him through the heart and sidestepped the dead body.

Another guard heard the commotion and ran towards him, ready to shoot. This time he didn’t stop for questions. He took care of the problem quickly and reached the corridor.

These men obviously knew who he was. And they weren’t afraid of him. Which only meant one thing. The Count was more dangerous than he had thought.

No matter. The Hood had survived a lot worse.

There! A door at the far wall. 

Well, no point in trying to conceal his presence anymore. Oliver kicked it hard and calmly walked through.

The sight he encountered was straight out of a nightmare. People were naked, dressed only in medical robes and chained together, working on a substance that he identified as the green drug both junkies and cops called Vertigo.

“The Starling City vigilante? In my home?” The man that spoke had the gaunt look and crazy eyes he had once seen on patients in Arkham Asylum. “You humble me with your presence, you mighty avenger. Please allow me to welcome you. No need for arrows. We fight on the same side.”

“Your side is money. We are nothing alike.” He knew better than to respond. But just the idea that he had something in common with that lunatic made bile rise in his throat.

“You care for the Glades. You want the best for its people. You hate the rich as much as we do. We are not that different you and I.”

“I don’t poison this city,” Oliver growled.

The Count laughed. “Oh, Green One, the poison is just the symptom. You have no idea about the disease that is slowly killing Starling. But you’ll soon learn. When he’s ready.”

“When who’s ready?”

But the discussion was apparently over because the Count fired three times. Oliver shot an arrow towards the chain holding people, breaking it and jumped behind a leather couch. The men and women didn’t try to escape but moved all together like headless chickens getting in the middle of the bullets and arrows with no care in the world.

It was horrible and as the sound of sirens signaled the police’s arrival, it only got worse. Oliver’s final coherent thought was of Sin waiting alone on that rooftop. He hoped she stayed out of trouble. And then there was no more thinking.

Only fighting and surviving.

* * *

Felicity was pretending to sleep when her phone started ringing. Ever since she had discovered that her best friend’s brother was this city’s guardian angel, sleep had become a rarity. Needless to say, her job and nonexistent social life were suffering. She sighed and decided to ignore the call. It would probably be her mother who had no concept of the time difference between Starling and Vegas.

The annoying ringing stopped. Promising herself to call her mother tomorrow night, Felicity punched her pillow into submission and wondered what Oliver was doing at that moment. Probably having fun kicking bad guys, jumping from buildings and shooting arrows left and right. Growling in frustration she kicked the sheets away. Would this torment never end?

The phone rang again. Felicity gave a small scream and reached for her glasses. It was too late in the evening (or too early in the morning to be exact) to deal with her Mom’s stories about rich customers and semi-famous celebrities or - she shuddered - questions about her dating life.

Great, now she was rambling in her head.

She picked up without looking at the screen. “Mom I love you but 4 o’clock is not the time to discuss potential boyfriends or-”

“Felicity Smoak?” a deep, male voice asked.

“Who’s this? How did you get this number?” She knew she sounded angry but if there was one thing that Felicity was paranoid about, was her identity. Very few people had her phone number and even fewer would dare to call her at this hour.

“We have a mutual friend.”

“Are you calling from SCPD? Because I thought that Roy’s thieving days were over. Oh Google, don’t tell me you’re calling from the hospital? Who’s dying? Is it my Mom? Thea? O-” She stopped herself before uttering that last name.

The man on the other end of the line chuckled. “Sounds like our friend was right to ask me to contact you. You’re worried about him.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied, even though her nerves were shot and she was biting her lip hard enough to draw blood.

“Do you know the Queen Steel Factory in the Glades?”

“If it’s on a map, I can find it.”

“Good. Come as fast as you can. Try the back entrance. The code is 1141.”

“That’s a lousy password. I could break that in my sleep,” she said and realized that the man had already hung up.

It took her brain a few moments to freak out about everything. Possible scenario number 1: he was injured, dying on a table, hidden in an old steel factory. The agony that pierced her heart was short but hurt like the devil. Possibility number 2: the man that called was an ally and Oliver had made him call her for help. But what kind of help was she? She was not a doctor and she was definitely not a fan of pointy things. The only skills she had were her smarts and her computer knowledge. What good would that do if he was dying, dammit? 

She didn’t know but she got dressed as fast as possible. 

Felicity didn’t have any trouble locating the old Queen steel factory. It was deep in the Glades, on the other side of her home which was located in the gentrified part of the neighborhood. She turned right and parked as close to the back entrance as possible. Taking out her pepper spray, just in case, she pushed the buttons and the heavy metallic door opened easily.

“Hello?” Her voice echoed in an empty stairwell.

Pepper spray in hand, she got down the stairs carefully. Somewhere in the back there was water dripping and some kind of machine making a beeping noise. If he was actually hurt, a hospital would be a much better choice than this damp, unsafe environment.

“You must be Felicity,” a voice said as soon as she reached the bottom. Jumping a mile high, she nearly got scared out of her skin but she was proud that she managed to swallow her instinctive scream.

The man, staring at her with open curiosity, was built like a mountain.

“I’m John Diggle. You can call me Dig.”

She nodded even though she didn’t care much for introductions at the moment. 

“Where is he?”

Dig pointed towards the middle of the room where a long, metal table was located. A young girl, no more than 25 years old was lying on it.

Felicity tilted her head. She had no idea who the girl was but she appeared to be seriously injured.

“That’s Sin,” Dig explained. “She was at the wrong place, at the wrong time.”

Curiosity appeased for the moment, Felicity repeated her earlier question. “Where is he?” It was irrational but she wanted to see him with her own eyes. Only then she would be satisfied.

Dig sighed and led her towards the back where a half-naked Oliver Queen was performing upside down crunches. His torso was glistening with sweat, his back muscles were straining but he didn’t stop. Not even for a second. 

“She’s here,” Dig said but Felicity would bet her new TX processor that the warning was unnecessary. Oliver had a sixth sense where she was concerned. He had probably known she was there way before Dig did. He did a hundred more repetitions without pause before acknowledging her presence.

“Why am I here, Oliver?” she asked, deliberately using his name.

For the first time, since she had arrived at this lonely basement he turned and looked at her.

“The police are on my tail. Constantly. I want to know why.”

“Can you elaborate?”

“Did you see any patrols when you drove here?”

“Well yes, but Lance is obsessed with the Arrow and it’s not weird that-”

“Arrow?” Dig asked, raising both eyebrows.

“Not the time,” Oliver snarled and grabbed a towel. Rubbing his body, he focused on Felicity. “The night of the party…”

A sudden roaring in her ears made her miss a little bit of his speech. That night was engraved onto her memory. It was both terrible and hauntingly beautiful.

“...Lance always seems to know where I am. No matter what I do, I can’t seem to catch a break. If I lay low, he lays low. If I’m dressed in green, he’s always behind me, nipping at my heels.” He threw the towel on the ground, viciously. “Walter always said that you’re the best. That you could hack the FBI if you wanted to. I know I’m asking a lot but today they came this close to catching me and now, someone else is paying the price.”

His voice had dropped several octaves as he looked at the sleeping girl. And Felicity saw clearly what he had been doing earlier, hanging from the ceiling like a bat. Not exercising or trying to calm down as she had originally thought but punishing himself.

She put her bag down and turned towards the computers.

“Hacking the SCPD is a serious waste of my talents, Oliver. I’m not thrilled. I don’t think Batman is asking Oracle to hack GCPD, is he? She’s probably looking into the freaking NSA while I’m here-”

She stopped suddenly and whirled around to glare at him.

“Oliver Queen what have you done to these poor babies? This system looks like it came from the 80’s! And not the good part of the 80’s like leg warmers and Madonna… No, it looks like-”

Placing a hand on her shoulder, he cut her before she could continue. Felicity fixed her glasses. Her cheeks were burning with embarrassment. Why did she have to go on a tangent? She had been doing so great so far! Being invited into his secret lair in the middle of the night, she had one zillion questions about him and the young girl and Dig and she had managed to keep her mouth shut and not ask anything. Then, just a look at this horrible abuse of technology and she couldn’t help herself.

“I’ll get on it,” she whispered and focused on the task ahead.

Thirty minutes later and after the men indulged in a sparring session that provided the background music to her work, she jumped and yelled, “Yes!” so loudly that both of them came running.

“What did you find?”

Oliver’s voice reached her first.

“Lance has a spy.”

He shook his head.

“Not possible. No one knows about this.”

Felicity scoffed. “Your friends know. I know.”

“I don’t have friends.”

She threw her hands in the air. What a stubborn, stubborn man! She justified using two ‘stubborns’ because one wasn’t enough to describe him.

Dig didn’t comment but made a motion with his hands to show that she should ignore him.

“You said that Lance’s pursuit became worse after the mansion, right?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed.

“Did you happen to have any run ins with the law before the party?”

He narrowed his eyes. “As a matter of fact, I had one just before I arrived at the mansion.”

“Show me what you were wearing.”

Oliver cocked his head, clearly confused.

“You want answers? Show me what you were wearing.”

Oh, she was enjoying this so much! It was so much better than de-spamming email addresses and pretending she was a blonde bimbo so that her stupid boss wouldn’t be offended by her intelligence.

Oliver brought his green suit and gave it to her, albeit a bit gingerly. She patted it down and discovered several hidden pockets that held all kinds of things but not the thing she was looking for.

“Is that all?” she asked. Frustration colored her voice but she was sure her instincts were right. She just had to prove it.

“What about the quiver?” Dig chimed. “Didn’t you have it with you?”

“Quiver?” Excitement returned with a vengeance.

Oliver turned towards a glass case. Felicity rolled her eyes and whispered to Dig, “Is the glass case actually practical or is it a necessary accessory to the vigilante lifestyle?”

Oliver didn’t respond but the slight upturn of his lips indicated that he had heard her. He gave her the quiver but removed the arrows explaining that some of them were so dangerous that they could set off a minor explosion and seriously injure her.

Felicity nodded but didn’t pay much attention. Her hands patted down the leather and admired the practical design. Whoever had built that was obviously a master of his craft.

“His name was Yao Fei.”

“Who?”

“You were mumbling about the man who made this. The quiver was his. So was the bow.”

She was staring at him in complete surprise when Dig’s forced cough pulled her out of her reverie. Yao Fei? It was the first time she had ever heard of him. Could Oliver have met him on the island or in a totally different place? Like Russia? And what in Google's name possessed the man to actually tell her about him?

Obviously, she was not the only one surprised. Dig was looking at his friend as if he had never seen him before.

“Yes!” she shouted and pumped her fist in the air.

While her brain had been focusing on the riddle that was Oliver Queen, her hands had found what she had been looking for.

“You don’t happen to have a Faraday cage in this establishment, do you?”

“A what?” Dig asked.

“It’s a literal cage that can block electromagnetic fields,” Oliver answered before she could. “Which means that… You found a bug?”

The last sentence was said so calmly that it scared her. Growly Oliver was a sight to behold but it didn’t faze her. Calm Oliver was terrifying.

“They must have planted it on you during the fight.”

Dig crossed his arms and looked skeptical. “If that thing is a bug then why hasn’t Lance swarmed this place?”

Felicity examined the small device. It gleamed in her hand.

“This is the Sniffer 2000. It’s an old version of a very dangerous tracker that the military uses often. This baby shows a general location but not exactly where you are so after a while it became obsolete. Of course, the Starling police department is so underfunded that there’s no way Lance could get something more expensive. Or reliable. That’s probably the only reason why you aren’t wearing cuffs now.”

“Okay,” Dig said. “I’ve heard enough. Let me get the hammer and-”

“No. Give it to me.”

Felicity closed her hand. “Listen, Oliver. If you’re going to do something stupid then we should discuss it first, don’t you think? The three of us might come up with a better plan.”

He took a step forward.

“There’s no ‘three of us’. I work alone. And my plans are never stupid.”

Dig fake-coughed to show his disagreement.

“Fe-li-ci-ty. Give me the bug.” 

He was still speaking in the same self-possessed tone that was freaking her out. They were standing too close, almost touching and she could feel him. A serene front but underneath there was anger. The Hood was fighting the city’s worst criminals while the police were chasing their tails. A young girl had gotten hurt because of a man’s personal vendetta. A girl under Oliver’s watch. No. Anger was too small a word. 

Rage fit better.

“Promise me,” she said before she could stop herself.

He narrowed his eyes.

“Promise me you’ll come back.”

Before she could berate herself for the utter stupidity of trying to exact this type of promise from him, he nodded slightly and took her hand. His gloved fingers caressed her skin, pushing her fingers open, making the hair on her arms stand up. His movements were so gentle that she felt like crying. Again.

Watching him take the bug, put on the suit, place the arrows back in the quiver and grab his bow without speaking was one of the hardest things she had ever done.

He walked towards the metal staircase but turned back at the last minute.

“Dig. Take care of her.”

Dig didn’t argue and took a step towards Felicity.

They watched him leave, both standing in an uncomfortable silence full of tension that Felicity would have normally tried to break with a thousand-word babble. 

Turning towards Dig, she clutched his arm harder than she meant to.

“He’s gonna do something stupid, isn’t he?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, this specific tracker is a figment of my imagination and a friend came up with this very funny name. Anyway, is Oliver actually going to do something stupid? Tell me your thoughts. 
> 
> PS. I have always assumed that Felicity is allergic to peanuts, probably because of Emily's own interpretation of the character and due to the huge amount of fanfic I have read. For the sake of this story, let's just say I'm right. Thank you to the Discord crew who researched the matter thoroughly and explained to me the differences between types of tree nut allergies. You guys are the best!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and special thanks to the geniuses who organized Olicity Clue! Challenges like this are fun and keep the fandom flames burning.
> 
> P.S. Did you guess my prompts? I got a name, a place and an object. What do you think they were?


End file.
